DOWN SYNDROME

Down Syndrome

Introduction

Down syndrome is the state in which additional hereditary material causes setbacks in the way a child build up psychologically and physically. This condition is also known as Trisomy 21. It has been said that this condition is present in at least 1 baby out of 800. The psychological and physical harms related with Down syndrome can differ among children. It is not compulsory that children who are suffering from Down syndrome will need any medical attention. It has been shown in several cases that children with this disease can live healthy life. It has been said that it is a disease which is not preventable but it can be detected before birth. There are several community resources which provide assistance to families in order to treat the children who are suffering from Down syndrome. These community resources help in the treatment of health problems which are associated with Down syndrome. "Having Down syndrome is like being born normal. I am just like you and you are just like me. We are all born in different ways that is the way I can describe it. I have a normal life."

Discussion

Down syndrome is defined as a situation or circumstance that occurs in humans as a result of a particular genetic alteration. This genetic alteration is defined as a presence of an extra chromosome in the child which means that the baby has 47 chromosomes instead of 46. A syndrome means the existence of a set of symptoms that define or characterize a particular pathological condition. This condition is named as Down syndrome because it was initially identified in the last century by the English physician John Langdon Down. However, it was discovered in 1957 by Dr. Jerome Lejeune that the main reason for the emergence of this syndrome is due to the nuclei of (Geliebter, Allan, 2008)

It is important to know that the man's sperm and woman's egg are embryonic or germ cells which have only half the chromosomes of other cells, i.e. 23. Therefore, when conception occurs and the egg and sperm fuse to cause the first cell of the new human organism, it has 46 chromosomes characteristic of the human species. From the first cell and successive cell divisions, it produces the millions of cells that form the various organs of our body. It means that when cells divide, each cell possesses those 46 chromosomes. It should be recalled here that the importance of chromosome lies in its content, i.e. genes that reside within it.

Causes

Some couples wait to have a child later just to enjoy the married life which increases the risk that the new born baby might be suffering from Down syndrome. That is why parents who have children at older ages should get genetic counseling. Down syndrome is a disease which is a genetic disorder in which the child has an extra chromosome. It has three units of chromosome 21 (Trisomy 21) in place of the normal two. It is still unknown why a baby has this extra chromosome, and ...